Golf club



Nam H7, E936. A. A. KRAEUTER GOLF CLUB Filed Feb. 4, 1932 TTQRNEY l l tINVENTOR Patentedv Nov. I7, 1936 PATENT ,OFFICE GOLF CLUB Arthur A.Kraeuter, South Orange, N. J., assignor to The Kroydon Company, acorporation of New Jersey Application February 4, 1932, Serial No. 590,796

12 Claims.

This invention relates to golf clubs and particularly to those having ametal hosel which, in iron headed clubs, is integrally joined withtheremainder of the head and in the socket of which the metal end of ashaft, particularly a thin walled tubular metal shaft, is secured.

Where a tubular metal shaft is used and the metal of the hosel and themetal of the shaft lare rigidly secured in metallic contact as by arivet so that there can be no torsional give, a shock is transmitted tothe hands of the player when the ball is struck, which is disagreeable,disconcerting and liablel to detract from the excellence of his playing;also while the wall of the hosel socket and that of the shaft therein(which are usually correspondingly tapered) are made to correspond asclosely as may be, there is almost never an exact conformity of the two.The hosel, it is true, being of comparatively thick metal may have itssocket accurately machined. The

tubular thin Walled type of metal shaft, however, cannot be so machined,and even where the metal employed in the shaft is thicker if it wereaccurately machined in the rst place, its accuracy is liable to bedestroyed in the heat treatment and straightening of the shaft. Theresult is that when the shaft end is inserted in the hosel socket, itfrequently does not bear upon the wall of the socket at all points butbears upon only a portion of such wall. If the shaft end is secured inthe hosel under these conditions, as by a rivet, a non-solid joint isformed, and under these circumstances the striking of the club againstother objects causes it to give forth a sound indicating looseness ofthe head on the shaft, and it may even have a feeling of looseness. Thefeel and action of the club with a non-solid joint as referred to isdifferent from what it is with clubs wherein the end of the shaft issolidly joined with the hosel.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved meansfor securing the metal shaft end within the metal hosel which shallprovide a shock-absorbing connection between the head by which the ballis struck vand the hands of the player as before referred to.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved jointbetween the metal shaft end and the metal hosel which shall certainly besolid throughout the joint without the possibility of any unlled spaces,however minute, anywhere existing within the area of the joint.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method forjoining a metal golf shaft end to a. metal hosel whereby a joint withthe advantages as above referred to is realized.

Other and ancillary objects of the lnvention'will appear hereinafter.

According to the present invention the solidity of the joint referred tois attained by interposing in the joint between the shaft Wall and thehosel wall a fused metal bath which percolates into all the crevices,however minute, between the opposed hosel and shaft walls, and is thenallowed to harden. Thisfused metal may constitute the sole means ofsecuring the shaft to the hosel or it may be' used in conjunction with arivet or other securing means, the interposed bath of metal serving ineither case to render the joint perfectly solid with the advantages asabove indicated. It is also true that the fused or molten bath ofinterposed metal will perform its function of completely solidifying thejoint whether or not certain parts of the shaft contact with the wallsof the socket. Where such contact exists the fused metal will enter intoany existing crevices between the parts and accomplish the desiredsolidication.

According to the present invention the function of shock-absorptionbetween the head of the club and hands of the player is accomplished byinterposing a fused or molten bath of metal between the shaft and thehosel walls, which metal solidies in the joint and when solid securesthe shaft and hosel together and is relatively soft and shock absorbing.In order to realise the give or shock absorbing qualities of theinterposed softer metal, it is necessary that there shall be nohardmetal contact or connection, as for instance a hard metal rivet betweenthe shaft and the hosel which would tend to hold the hosel and shaft inrigid connection and interfere with the effect of the cushioningproperties of the interposed soft metal.

The objects of the invention as regards the shock absorption may berealized, although in a joint treated with the fused metal bath aportion or portions of the circumferential wall of the shaft is incontact with the circumferential wall of the hosel socket, because suchcontact would not prevent cushioning of the torsional shock otherwisetransmitted to the hands of the player when the ball is struck. It is afact, however, that the full advantages of the invention and the mostperfect shock absorbing and solidifying of the joint is secured whenthere is a lm or layer of soft metal at' all points of the joint betweenthe shaft and the hosel with no hard at either or both of the jointsbetween the shaft g and adapter and the adapter and the hosel. It willbe apparent that the desired shock absorption will take place if but oneof these joints has the fused metal as its sole connecting means. Itr

will probably prove desirable, however, to have both of the joints soconnected.

In the acompanying drawing which illustrates the invention- Fig. 1 is aview of a golf club which embodies the invention, the view being partlybroken away and partly in longitudinal axial section, the sectionshowing the improved joint between the head and shaft;

Fig. 2 is a view of the shaft, partly broken away and partly inlongitudinal axial section, separated from the head of the golf club;and

Fig. 3 is a view, partly broken away and partly in longitudinal axialsection, of a modifled construction of golf club.

Referring to the drawing, and first to Figs. 1

- and 2, the head I of the golf club is in the ordinary form of putter,midiron or other metal club usually of steel, having a hollow outwardlytapered metal hosel portion 2 with the inner tapered socket surface 3.The shaft 4 is of seamless tubular steel of thin wall and heat treatedto the desired condition of hardness.

The interior wall of the hosel socket and also the walls of the endV ofthe shaft to be inserted are correspondingly tapered and are thoroughlycleaned or polished so that there will be no scale or deleteriousforeign substance in the joint. A flux is then applied to the wall ofthe hosel socket and also to the shaft which is to be entered within thesocket. This flux may be any of the well known fluxes used in solderingoperations but it should however be free from acid, which would attackthe joining orjoined materials, to avoid corrosion in the fused joint.

The end of the shaft is then dipped into a molten bath of suitablemetal. Although the composition of this metal may vary widely, as willbe understood by those skilled in the art, according to differentcircumstances and results desired to be produced, a satisfactory metalhas been found to be an alloy of tin and lead in the proportions of 63%tin and 37% lead. This has the requisite softness when solidified andhas a low melting point so that it is not necessary to unduly heat thesteel parts in forming thevjoint. To excessively heat the steel partsentering into the joint would be likely to cause their temper to bedeleteriously affected, particularly the tubular shaft.

By thus dipping the shaft its exterior wall is thoroughly and completelycoated with the molten alloy or "tinned. The shaft 4 with the coating ofalloy 5 is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The wall of the hosel socketto be joined to the shaft may also be coated with the alloy.

The coated end of the shaft is inserted in the socket having its innerwall coated as described and the hosel is then heated up to a pointwhere the alloy between the shaft and socket walls become fused so as toform a fluid bath extending from the shaft wall to the hosel-socketwall, The shaft is then moved about in the hosel to permit the fusedalloy to penetrate into every crevice between the Joined walls of thehosel and shaft, and finally the hosel and shaft, held in properrelative position, are plunged into a cooling bath of oil whereupon thealloy becomes solid, the shaft and head are secured together thereby anda joint between the shaft and head is formed as shown in Fig. 1. Thecooling of the joint should be effected as soon as possible after thefusing of the alloy in order to avoid possible injury to the temper ofthe shaft by long continued heat in the joint.

It is to be observed that in the structure illustrated in the drawing,the alloy compietelyfllls all crevices of the joint so that it ishomogeneous and the desired solidity is attained, that there is acoating or film of alloy at all points of the joint between the shaftand hosel so that there is no contact between the hosel and shaft, andshock tended to be transmitted through the joint is absorbed andcushioned by the relatively soft metal interposed between the steelhosel and shaft, also that the alloy acts as a solder between the hoseland shaft and is the sole means of securing them together.

Referring to the modified construction shown in Fig. 3, the club thereinshown comprises a shaft 4 of seamless steel tube of uniform taper whichis adapted to the steel hosel 2' of the head I' by means of a steeladapter 8, the same being a tubular member having its interior boretapered so as to receive the end of the shaft as shown. Upon itsexterior the adapter 8 has a shoulder 9. The outer edge of this shoulderis substantially flush with the exterior of the hosel so that a smoothjoint is made, and from the shoulder 9 the surface tapers in a curve IIIto its upper end Il.

Extending from the shoulder i in the other direction, the adapter has aportion l2, the exterior surface of whichis tapered to correspond to thetaper of the interior wall of the hosel 2. The adapter is secured to thehosel at one joint by means of an interposed layer of fusible alloy i3surrounding the adapter and forming the sole means of connection betweenthe adapter and the hosel. This alloy may be of the same composition asthe alloy of the layer 5 of Figs. 1 and 2, and applied in the same way.The adapter is secured to the steel shaft l at the other joint solely bya layer I4 surrounding the shaft and composed of the same alloy appliedin a similar manner.

While the invention has been set forth in what are considered its bestapplications as to both apparatus and method of producing it, theinvention of apparatus may be embodied in other structures than thoseshown and the method may be practiced with details varying from thoserecited, without departing from the 'spirit of the invention; theinvention is not therefore limited to the apparatus as shown in thedrawing nor the precise details of the method as recited.

What I claim is:

1. In a golf club, the combination vwith a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft entering within and secured to said hosel, and a film ofsoft solder contacting and securing iron to iron in a joint between saidhosel and shaft and filling in spaces of non-contact of the joinedsurfaces, said solder being fused in said joint and allowed to solidify.

2. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel witha tapered opening, of a tapered iron shaft entering within and securedto said hosel, the taper of said shaft within said opening beingsubstantially the same as the taper of said opening, and a film of softsolder in a joint between said hosel and shaft, said solder contactingand securing iron to iron and niling in spaces of non-contact of thejoined surfaces, said solder being fused in said joint and allowed tosolidify.

3. In a golf club, the combination with an iron head having a hosel witha tapered opening, ofan iron shaft interfitting with said hosel andsecured thereto, said shaft being of substantially uniform taper withinsaid hosel, and said shaft taper being substantially the same as that ofsaid hosel opening, the areas of non-contact of said hosel and shaftbeing lled with a film of soft solder contacting and securing togethersaid hosel and shaft iron to iron and extending for the greater part ofthe length of said hosel.

4. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft entering.

within and secured to said hosel, and a film of soft solder in a jointbetween said hosel and shaft contacting and securing together said`hosel and shaft iron to iron and filling in spaces of non-contact of thejoined surfaces, said solder being fused in said joint and allowed tosolidify, said fused material being the sole securing means of thejoint.

5. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel witha tapered opening, of a tapered iron shaft entering within and securedto said hosel, the taper of said shaft within said opening beingsubstantially the same as the taper of said opening, and a iilin of softsolder contacting and securing iron to iron in a joint between saidhosel and shaft filling' in spaces of non-contact of the joinedsurfaces, said solder beingfused in said joint and allowed to solidify,said fused material being the sole securing means of the Joint.

6. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft, an adapter interposed between said shaft and said hosel,there being a joint between said shaft and adapter and between saidadapter and said hosel, and films of soft solder in said joints fillingin spaces of non-contact of the joined surfaces, said solder being fusedin said joints and allowed to solidify.

7. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft, an adapter interposed between said hosel and shaft, therebeing a joint between said shaft and adapter and between said adapterand said hosel and a film of soft solder in at least one of said joints.said solder being fused in said joint and allowed to solidify andforming the sole securing means in its joint.

8. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft, an adapter interposed between said hosel and shaft, therebeing a joint between said shaft and adapter and between said adapterand said hosel and films of soft solder in each of said joints, saidsolder being fused in said joint and allowed to solidify and forming thesole securing means in its joint.

9. In a golf club, the combination with a metal head, of a temperedsteel shaft secured to said head and material in a joint between saidhead and shaft of a lower fusing temperature than that at which the saidshaft is tempered, said material being fused in the joint and allowed tosolidify.

10. In a golf club, the combination with a metal head, of a temperedsteel shaft secured to said head and a thin film of solder in a jointbetween said head and shaft of a lower fusing temperature than that atwhich said shaft is tempered, said solder being fused in the joint and.allowed to solidify and constituting the sole securing means of itsjoint.

11. In a golf club, the combination with a head having an iron hosel, ofan iron shaft entering within and secured to said hosel and a film ofsoft solder with an acid freev iiux, contacting and securing iron toiron, in a joint between said hosel and shaft and filling in spaces ofnon-contact of the joined surfaces, said solder being fused in saidjoint and allowed to solidify.

12. In a golf club, the combination with an iron head of a tem redtubular steel shaft secured to said head and a lm of soft solder with anacid free flux, contacting and securing iron to iron, in a joint betweensaid shaft and head, said solder being of a fusing temperature lowerthan the temperature at which the said shaft is tempered, said solderbeing fused in the joint and allowed to solidify.

. ARTHUR A. KRAEUTER.

